Durant: Barkley’s apology not sincere
Kevin Durant doesn’t believe that Charles Barkley is sorry for saying that he’d like to punch Draymond Green in the face on TNT’s halftime show during Game 2 of the Warriors’ Western Conference semifinals series against New Orleans on Tuesday.
Barkley apologized Wednesday on TNT, but Durant said he didn’t think it was sincere.
“No, I didn’t,” Durant said Thursday. “He said what he said. He felt that way. But Barkley ain’t punching nobody, like Draymond said. I don’t think he would’ve done that back in the day either. I don’t know why he’s so angry all the time at the new generation of basketball. But I guess that’s what it is.”
A reporter then asked Durant if he thought Barkley was joking around when he made that comment while criticizing Green’s demonstrative behavior.
“No, I thought he was serious,” Durant said. “We rarely see Charles Barkley anyway. He’s going to stay in the studio and look at games on TV. And we’re going to go out here and just play the game that we love. He had his time already. I’m sure there were plenty of guys back in his day that he had an opportunity to punch and he didn’t. We’re going to move on.”
Stephen Curry echoed Durant’s sentiments, pointing out that after Barkley apologized, he said, “I meant what I said.”
Curry joked he wishes his mother would’ve let him get away with non- apologies when he did something wrong as a child. Curry added that “I would’ve gotten slapped in the face” by his mother if he had said, “I’m sorry but I still mean it.”
Curry said Green handled the situation “amazingly.” After Game 2, Green said Barkley should punch him in the face, adding, “If you’re not going to punch me in my face when you see me, then shut up.”
Warriors’ coach Steve Kerr, however, was unfazed by the whole incident.
“I didn’t take it very seriously,” Kerr said. “It’s just Charles. Charles is so good at his job. I know he apologized and stuff, but I didn’t think it was a big deal. That’s the reason that show is so great because of his humor. They’re going to say stuff that other people won’t say. But you can’t take them seriously.”
Kerr, who was a broadcast analyst for TNT from 2003-2007 and 2010-2014, said he dug himself into some holes back in the day when he was on air.
“I think one time I said that I want to punch (analyst) Marv Albert in the face and immediately regretted it,” Kerr said. “He ignored me for the next few minutes on the telecast. At half time, we made amends and we were fine.”
A reporter then teased Kerr that he actually meant that, though.
“I did mean that, yeah,” Kerr said, smiling. “But sometimes you shouldn’t say the things that you mean.”
• Patrick McCaw (bruised spine) was cleared for modified on-court shooting and running drills following an evaluation by the medical staff. He’s set to be re- evaluated in four weeks, which means he’ll be sidelined at least through the Western Conference finals.
“He’s coming along,” Kerr said. “Happy for him. You think about where he was a month ago, that night, and where he is now, basketball doesn’t enter my mind. It was, ‘ Thank God he was walking and moving.’ He’s on a good path.”
McCaw sustained the injury in a game against the Sacramento Kings on March 31. It happened in the third quarter when Vince Carter inadvertently undercut him, sending him crashing onto the floor. He was carried off the court on a stretcher and rushed to UC Davis Medical Center.
McCaw hasmade “steady functional progress,” according to the Warriors. He will continue doing strength and conditioning work with the team’s staff.
When asked if there’s any chance McCaw could be back this season, Kerr said the Warriors are just taking things “week by week.”
“I’m not even thinking about this year or next year or anything like that,” Kerr said. “Once he gets better, he gets to do more. We’ll see where it all goes.”
• After Warriors assistant coaches Jarron Collins and Mike Brown recently interviewed for headcoaching jobs, Kerr jokingly took all of the credit.
“I have this long and storied career after several decades of coaching,” Kerr said. “I have grown these branches off my tree.”
Kerr then added that New Orleans’ coach Alvin Gentry, who was an assistant under him in 2014-15, owes his success to him.
“I had to mentor him,” Kerr joked. “Finally a couple of years ago, I took him out of the nest and I just said, ‘ You have to fly on your own!’ I tossed him gently and he flew all the way to New Orleans. It really worked out. He owes me everything.”